1) To others -- particularly Arabs -- the lands belong to the state of Palestine, whose history in the region stretches back 6,000 years.

2) Civil war erupted, with Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq supporting the Palestinians . Nevertheless the Israelis prevailed and in ensuing years captured more territory west of the Jordan River.

3) Waves of Jewish refugees flooded the country, more than doubling the Israeli population.

4) In 1955, a new Egyptian government closed the Straits of Tiran and the Suez Canal to Israeli ships in response to a perceived spy threat. The following year, Shimon Peres led Israel to invade the Sinai Peninsula, aided secretly by Britain and France...

5) Tension continued, however, and fighting broke out again in1967. A young Yasser Arafat had stirred up liberation hopes in occupied Palestine, and border skirmishes began to escalate.

6) In the days that followed, Israeli troops conquered the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian troops defending Sinai.

7) In the late 1980s, fed up with occupation and Jewish settlements in former Palestinian territories, the Arafat-led Fatah party began the first intifada in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

8) The emergence of suicide bombers and the increasing instability within the Palestinian leadership further derailed the talks....

9) It remains to be seen if Israel and the international community will accept the militant group Hamas in any future peace negotiations, following the group's landslide victory in the January elections.

Correction (Updated Web site):

1) To others -- particularly Arabs -- the lands belong to Palestinians, who assert a historical claim to the region.

2) Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq joined the Palestinians in attacking and trying to eliminate the nascent state.

3) Waves of Jewish refugees flooded the country, many from Europe, but most fleeing Arab countries, and more than doubling the Israeli population.

4) In 1955, a new Egyptian government closed the Straits of Tiran and the Suez Canal to Israeli ships in response to a perceived spy threat. The following year, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula, backedby Britain and France....

5) Tension continued, however, and fighting broke out again in 1967.

6) In the days that followed, Israeli troops conquered the Egyptians troops defending Sinai. Israel also defeated assaults by Jordan from the east and Syria from the north.

7) In the late 1980s, fed up with occupation and Jewish settlements in former Palestinian territories, local Palestinians began the first intifada in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, later joined byYasser Arafat's Fatah militants.

8) Palestinian suicide bombers began attacking Israeli civilians, and the increasing instability within Palestinian leadership further derailed the talks...

9) It remains to be seen if Israel and the international community will accept the militant group Hamas in any future peace negotiations, following the group's landslide victory in the January elections. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, and is regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.

Error (PBS, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Ed Bradley, 5/2/03): The Syrians say the town of al-Qunaitra was laid waste by retreating Israeli forces in 1973, the year the Syrians recaptured it along with around one-third of the Golan Heights.

Correction (5/7/03): A correction before we go with regards to a recent report from Syria. Israel withdrew, not retreated, from the town of Quneitra as part of a formal disengagement agreement. Israel has denied Syrian claims that it destroyed the town.